


Reincarnate

by caramel_ICE_cream (cheriemelody)



Series: Yugioh Arc-V Rarepair Week 2017 [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Angst, M/M, not going to put Shiunin Miu as a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-02 18:13:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11514759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheriemelody/pseuds/caramel_ICE_cream
Summary: Sora and Tsukikage are on opposing sides of a war. Can they revive their will to cling to faith and hope while the world around them crumbles?Written for Arc V Rarepair Week 2017, Day 6: Wartime





	1. Grief

“Do you believe in reincarnation?” 

While lying down on her bed, Miu slowly looked up at Sora. Sora couldn’t bring himself to answer that. She looked away. “Why did I ask that?,” Miu whispered, “I already know what your answer is.”

She looked forlornly at the ceiling. Sora couldn’t stand this anymore. “Miu, just because I don’t believe in it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t either.”

She laughed weakly but right after began to cough. As usual, it sounded like there was rattling in her lungs. All Sora could do was holding her hand more tightly as the coughs continued. It took a while for the coughing fit to subside. When it finally did, Miu looked back at her brother. “That’s not what I exactly meant. It’s funny; I’m quite worried about you.”

_ Nothing about this is funny, Miu. _ Still, Sora silently waited for Miu to clarify what she had meant. “I already know that I will die,” she explained, “but I don’t think you’ve accepted it yet.”

“Miu-”

“When I die, you’ll be all alone. That’s why I’m worried about you.”

“Miu,” Sora insisted, “Stop thinking that you’re going to die. There has to be a cure!”

She simply closed her eyes and smiled. He’s lying, and they both knew it. He closed his eyes as well, as if in recognition, and the bells outside started to chime. Sora squeezed her hand, but she didn’t react. She had fallen asleep. 

_ You’re the only person I have left in this world.  _ ~~~~

* * *

In the woods, two young men were standing apart from each other, face to face. Sora stared blankly at his opponent. “If you give me the letter,” he offered, “I’ll spare you.”

His opponent (an orange-colored ninja, as absurd as that sounded) glared back at him. He didn’t know why Sora knew that he was on a mission to deliver the plans to his general back at the military base. He lied, “What are you talking about?”

“Hah,” Sora laughed, “don’t play dumb! I know you have it. Even if you don’t have it, I’ll just kill you, anyways.”

The opponent braced himself. “Even if I did have the letter, you would have to kill me first!”

Even though the letter had been encrypted, there was no guarantee that the enemy wouldn’t succeed in cracking its code if they obtained it. That’s why he couldn’t afford to lose the letter.

* * *

Tsukikage leapt from tree to tree, eyes desperately scanning the forest.  _ Hikage, where are you? Where could you be?  _ Suddenly, he heard a scream. Chills ran down his spine.  _ Hikage?! _ Adrenaline rushed through his body, and he sprinted his way to the source.

Eventually, from a distance, he saw two figures. One of them was lying on the ground.  _ No! No, it can’t be! _ . Before the standing figure could respond, Tsukikage grabbed his brother and ran away. 

After making sure that the enemy wasn’t following them, Tsukikage decided to stop, and he gently laid Hikage down. Hikage was breathing, but the front of his shirt was soaked with blood. “Hikage,” Tsukikage called softly as he teared off his sleeve and tried to stop the bleeding. 

Hikage groaned. Tsukikage stilled for a moment, and Hikage opened his eyes. “Aniki?”

Tsukikage sighed. “You’re awake! I’m glad.” He continued trying to stop the bleeding. “Thankfully, the knife missed your vital organs. You’re bleeding a lot, but it’ll stop soon enough.”

Hikage didn’t answer. After bandaging the wound, Tsukikage looked back at Hikage’s face and became concerned. Hikage seemed agitated. 

“Aniki,” Hikage croaked out, “I think I’m dying.”

The air around them suddenly felt cold. Tsukikage shivered. “What do you mean?”

Hikage’s face scrunched up further in pain. “That assassin. Shuin’in Sora. He must have poisoned me.”

_ Shiun’in Sora,  _ Tsukikage realized.  _ One of the enemy’s most fearsome fighters. Once his blade even scratches you, you’ll be severely poisoned.  _

“Hikage, I’ll bring you to the base! Just hang on!” 

“No, aniki,” Hikage refused softly, “it’s no use. It’ll be too late by then.”

“But-”

“No!” he insisted. Then that one word seemed to sap him of the remaining energy he had left. “Just. I just want to rest in piece. It doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

Tsukikage didn’t want to believe that he was dying. However, Hikage’s face seemed to grow paler by the second. “Aniki. . .” Hikage whispered.

“What is it?” Tsukikage choked out, keeping back his tears. The last thing he wanted was for Hikage to see him crying.

“Do you believe in reincarnation?”

Tsukikage stared at his brother. Even when dying, there was hope in Hikage’s eyes. Tsukikage refused to say no this time. He grabbed his brother’s hand and declared, “I will believe in it for your sake.”

Hikage smiled through his mask. “Thank you.”

As his breathing grew shallower, Tsukikage tightened his grip on his hand. “Aniki,” Hikage said shakily, “take care.”

Hikage lost consciousness after that and passed away soon after.

_ Hikage. _ Tears finally flowed freely from Tsukikage’s eyes. He felt like the loneliest person in this godforsaken world.

* * *

As Sora deciphered the letter in his room, he became more and more disillusioned. 

After Hikage had temporarily lost consciousness, Sora had quickly retrieved the letter from the body. As expected, the letter had been encrypted. It was code that Sora already knew (even though he wasn’t supposed to know), so it had only taken moments for him to confirm that this was the letter that he had been ordered to find. Soon after, a blue ninja who had looked like the opponent’s mirror image quickly retrieved his twin. Sora had not bothered going after them because he had gotten what he needed. 

So far, the letter wasn’t about military plans, which is what Sora had assumed, but instead contained evidence. By the time he eventually reached the end of the letter, his whole body was shaking.  _ “Our research concludes that the enemy king has no basis for reviving the dead. To summarize, his claims of building a utopia after the war ends where everyone who was killed will be revived have been proven false.” _

_ Miu, what have I done? _

Sora screamed and slammed the letter onto his desk. Something wet dripped down his face, and he realized belatedly that he was crying. 

_ Miu, I only wanted to bring you back. _

He sat down on the ground, curled himself into a ball, and sobbed. 

_ How many people did I kill? I didn’t even care if they actually died or not. I didn’t care if they would revive or not. I just wanted to bring Miu back. _

He wailed, finally accepting that Miu would never come back and finally accepting the sins he had commited.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Tsukikage stared at his opponents who were standing across from him. He grimaced.  _ Three vs one. The odds are against me _ . His opponents appeared to think the same because smirks started to crack on their faces. “So,” the middle one gloated, “looks like this will be the end for you!”

He summoned another metal dog, which soon joined its pack. Upon seeing this, Tsukikage held tighter onto his weapon and braced himself. He didn’t have any more energy to summon monsters of his own, but he did still have the strength to hold on longer, at least until reinforcements arrived. However, like he was reading his mind again, his opponent said triumphantly, “Don’t even think about reinforcements. All of your allies have already retreated.”

_ He might be bluffing, _ Tsukikage thought. Unfortunately, the soldier didn’t seem to be lying. The pack of dogs walked forward, and Tsukikage found himself being backed against a wall.  _ At this rate. . . _

_ Hikage, is it time for me to finally join you? _

“Hey!”

The shout surprised everyone, and a young man soon jumped from the top of the building to front of the dogs. “You are Shiun’in Sora?” one of the soldiers asked, “Are you going to help us?” 

_ The man who killed my brother.  _ Tsukikage clenched his weapon even tighter.  _ No, I can’t die yet!  _ However, before he could tell him his thoughts, Sora soon cast a spell on the dogs. 

“What are you-?”

Before anyone could process what was happening, the dogs turned around and attacked their owners. They couldn’t counter this because they had used up most of their energy to summon these dogs. Tsukikage could only stare at the scene while the pack of dogs teared the enemy apart. 

After the soldiers died, Tsukikage heard a sigh. “Sheesh, I never liked those dogs,” Sora muttered, “The things they do, it always gives me a bad taste in my mouth.” 

“Shuin’in Sora.”

Sora finally looked at him. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do now,” Tsukikage explained, “I don’t know if you remembered, but you killed my brother, and I should avenge him. However, you just saved my life. Why is that?”

Sora flinched and looked at the ground guiltily. “I do remember. That’s because he was the last person I killed before I switched allegiances. I never officially joined your side because they would never believe me. I try to help, though.”

Tsukikage was surprised to find himself believing him. It helped that Sora had just saved him, but Sora did seem genuine about what he said.

Sora looked at him again. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to believe me, and you don’t have to forgive me, but I’m very sorry for killing your brother. If you want. . .”

Sora seemed to be on the edge of tears. “If you want, you can avenge your brother.”

_ Hikage, will you forgive me? _

“Shiun’in, I have decided.”

Sora seemed resigned to his fate.

“I can’t forgive you.”

He started to nod sadly in acceptance-

“Thank you. I owe you my life.”

Shocked, Sora blinked. Then he smiled. “I’m glad. I didn’t want things to end this way.”

Tsukikage smiled underneath his mask. “I feel the same.”

* * *

“What’s your name?” Sora asked. 

“Tsukikage.”

“Come on!” he grumbled, pouting with the stick of the lollipop pointing out. Just as usual.

Tsukikage simply chuckled. “No, seriously,” Sora continued, “it’s not a very common name. Is that even your real name? I hope not.”

The chuckles started to turn into laughter. “It’s very unfortunate,” was all he answered.

“Darn it!”

Sora felt tempted to take out his lollipop and crush it beneath his boots, but that was a waste of a tasty lollipop. “Why did your clan have to name you guys those kind of names?”

“They’re more like titles,” Tsukikage admitted. “However, those were the only names my brother and I have ever received, so they are also our names.”

_ That makes a little more sense. _

Sora continued sucking on the hard piece of candy. It tasted even better than usual. Even better than that night months ago when Tsukikage and Sora had met and decided to team up. The sun was setting, but the full moon still appeared low in the sky. The temperature was just right, and a cool breeze was passing through. 

Maybe Sora was appreciating this moment just because he and Tsukikage were going to die tonight. 

“Sora?”

Tsukikage’s voice brought Sora out of his thoughts. “You’re worried, aren’t you?” Tsukikage said softly.

Sora shook his head. “Not worried. Anxious. You know, it’s strange. As a soldier, you expect every day to be your last, but when you basically know that you  _ will _ die tonight, that still manages to make things different. This is probably how an execution feels like.”

“Sora,” Tsukikage reminded, “We can still make it out alive.”

He smiled bitterly in response. “I love how hopeful you can be, but it’s not helping.”

They had already been on so many dangerous missions, but there hadn’t ever been that feeling of certain doom. Yet somehow, they both knew that they were going to die. Tsukikage just didn’t completely accept it yet.

Tsukikage was silent for a long while, but Sora found it comfortable. Sora couldn’t think of any other ways to spend his last peaceful moments. He was content to simply stay by Tsukikage’s side. Quietly.

However, once the sun set, Tsukikage was the one to be greedy, for once. “Did I ever tell you that my favorite time of day is twilight?”

Sora smiled. “You didn’t, but I’m not surprised.”

Tsukikage chuckled again, for some reason. Then he kept on chuckling. It wouldn’t stop. Sora was bemused. “What’s so funny?”

Now it turned into giggling out of all things. Sora figured that Tsukikage was finally becoming hysterical. After all, they were going to die. Sora whined, “Tell me!”

After Tsukikage eventually calmed himself down, he stared into Sora’s eyes. “I wanted to kiss you.”

_ What? _ Sora widened his eyes. His heart sped up, and his face started to heat up.  _ All this time, he was- wait what was funny about wanting to kiss me? _

Tsukikage explained, “The problem is, I have a mask on, so I imagined us trying to kiss while still wearing the mask.”

Sora would have facepalmed if he weren’t still in shock. Tsukikage laughed, “I’m sorry, but it seemed funnier in my head.”

Now Sora really didn’t want his lollipop anymore, even if it would be his last one. He wouldn’t need it anymore. Tsukikage stopped laughing when Sora threw the candy away. “Tsukikage,” Sora demanded, “take off your mask. Now.”

He surprisingly didn’t even remark on it. The time he took to take it off seemed too short for Sora. Even after working together for a while, he still never saw the face beneath that mask.

_ Pretty. . . Of course he’s pretty. I always knew he was pretty, but this was better than I expected. _

Sora continued to admire his face as Tsukikage smiled. “Enjoying the view?”

Sora nodded. “It’s such a shame that your clan doesn’t allow you to remove your mask.”

_ Wait, the whole point of him removing the mask was to- _

Sora stepped closer and kissed him. His lips were soft and warm, and Tsukikage wrapped his arms around him. They both became lost in their own world. They wanted to stay like this forever. 

They at least forgot for that moment that they were going to die.

* * *

_ NONONONONONO Not like this! NOT LIKE THIS! _

Sora distantly heard screaming, and only a while later did he realize that it was coming from him. “It’s your turn next, traitor,” a cold, triumphant voice rang out. 

Something snapped. “You know,” Sora said lowly, “my sister believed in reincarnation. And Tsukikage believed in reincarnation for his brother’s sake. So I’ll believe in it for both my sister’s sake and Tsukikage’s sake. 

The voice lost its coldness and became deranged instead. “What? You know that you will die, so you cling to that nonsense to make yourself feel better? How low can you get?”

“Yeah, it’s nonsense,” Sora admitted. “But they’re good people. They deserve better than this world. So there  _ has _ to be something better out there for them. That’s why I’ll believe. But as for me. . .”

The darkest of energies flowed from Sora. Sora was dying. The voice retreated in fear, but to no avail. It started screaming.

“ _ I’ll drag you down with me to hell!” _

* * *

_ Sora.  _

_ Sora. . . _

“Sora!”

Sora jerked upwards from his seat. Where was he? Oh, he was in the subway train. And Miu was glaring at him. He glared back. “Sora, we’re going to arrive soon!”

He huffed and pouted. “Well, you could have woken me up more gently.”

“Stop acting like a child all the time,” Miu complained.

He groaned in response. He rubbed his eyes and leaned back into his seat.  _ Anyways, that was a weird dream.  _

“Sora, get up! We’re here!”

“Okay, okay.”

As they headed out the door, Sora wondered,  _ I thought I read somewhere that while dreaming, the brain can’t create its own faces. So all faces a person sees in dreams are all faces that that person saw in real life. _

“Sora, try your best to at least not look bored.”

“Miu, they already sound boring, so they probably are boring.”

“Oh, please, my friends are not that boring.”

As they walked to the party, Sora continued to ponder,  _ So who was that guy? I don’t remember ever seeing him before. He had a mask on most of the time. But still, he seemed important. I don’t even know why I’m thinking so hard about this. _

“Anyways, Sora, they should be your type. Tall, muscular, pretty face-”

“Miu, shut up! You told me this a hundred times, already. I got the point!”

“Oh wait, they’re already here?”

Sora looked around and tried to find a cafe, which was the meeting place before the group would head towards the party.  _ There they are.  _

He couldn’t see them clearly at first, but he and Miu soon approached them.  _ Twins? _ They were both wearing scarves that covered their mouths. So far, Sora wasn’t very impressed with how they looked. “Hey, you two!” Miu called out.

They both waved back and greeted them. Miu said, “I’m surprised that you came here so early.”

The twin wearing the blue clothing (the other one wore red clothes) brought down his scarf and explained that their earlier meeting somewhere else ended early.  _ Nope, I changed my mind. Pretty. Very pretty.  _

Miu seemed to notice his reaction and giggled. He rolled his eyes.  _ He’s the one I saw in my dream. I don’t remember seeing him before, though.  _ He stared more intently at the man, and he looked back and smiled.  _ Why do I feel like I’ve known him for a while? And that we are close? _

Sora introduced himself. “Nice to meet you! My name is Shiun’in Sora. And you are?”

_ Whatever. I’m sure we’ll get along.  _

The man smiled even more broadly, as if seeing a best friend again after many years, and said, “My name is-”


End file.
